Praxiologias interseccionais de gênero, raça, classe e sexualidade construídas com professoras de línguas

Abstract

This study aims to problematize the outcomes of a teacher education course that promoted the engagement of language teachers, both pre-service and in-service, grounded on praxiologies focused on the intersectionalities of gender, race, class, and sexuality in contemporary contexts. The course target audience concentrated on language teachers interested in critically problematizing the relationship between gender issues and language education. The research material consisted of identification forms, interactions during course virtual meetings, a research diary, individual conversations with the collaborators, and the praxiological proposals they developed. The central goal is to understand whether and how the perspective of intersectionality can contribute to the education of language teachers. To do so, the following research questions guide the discussion: How do the collaborators comprehend the assumption of white body in social relations? How were spaces of engaged listening constructed throughout the course? How do the collaborators relate the course discussions to school contexts and to language education? Seeking to contribute to the discussion of the questions presented in addition to activating the participants’ own repertoires, the external praxiologies that shape my research agenda – grounded on critical perspective of Applied Linguistics (Moita Lopes, 2006) – are based on: black feminist authors who focus on intersectionality (Akotirene, 2020; Crenshaw, 1989, 1991, 2002; Collins, 2019; Collins & Bilge, 2021; Gonzalez, 2020; Melo, 2022); authors who critique white feminism (Beck, 2021; Zakaria, 2021); scholars who discuss whiteness in Brazilian society (Bento, 2022, 2023; DiAngelo, 2023; Schucman, 2020, 2023); and authors who advocate for critical teacher education (Lopes & Borges, 2015; Pessoa, 2018, 2019; Urzêda-Freitas, 2018; Silvestre, 2017). Given the current sociopolitical context in which ultraconservative groups have promoted the depoliticization of gender discussions in schools, I consider it essential to incorporate into teacher education repertoires that challenge the hegemonic/colonial logic responsible for homogenizing and/or segregating certain bodies. Thus, this research contributes to the field of teacher education, especially in language teaching, by discussing situated and politicized possibilities for pedagogical practice. Moreover, I argue that intersectionality can operate as a critical praxiology in teacher education, as it creates space for alternative narratives and offers a safe locus for recognizing the complexity of bodies within social relations.